32:10 A public question from Trina Hurdman: “Will you please provide the resource allocation method formula that was used for school budgets in elementary, junior high, senior high and unique settings schools for the 2011-2012 school year, with all categories and amounts?”

46:11 Trustee Taylor moves that ASBA to represent them in discussions with the Government of Alberta and the ATA, and the appointment of a trustee to serve on the ASBA bargaining advisory committee. The motions pass unanimously, with Chair Cochrane appointed to serve.

After much confusion over who in the CBE had the authority to grant ARTICS permission to use the sound board to improve the audio quality of these recordings, it was finally determined that only the Chief Superintendent, Naomi Johnson, could grant this request. The request was denied with the reason given that she did not want to set a precedent of allowing public members access to the sound board. Hopefully, the CBE will soon put these videos online themselves. You will notice that this recording is of a screen as the CBE is already recording and broadcasting the proceedings so that the public (separated from the trustees by three rows of administration) can see more clearly during the meeting.

0:00 O Canada, organizational meeting with election of chair, vice-chair, committee members and committee chairs, setting of meeting times and agendas

30:45 Call to order of the regular meeting, changes to the agenda, Lighthouse Award presented to Breakfast Clubs of Canada, trustee reports on events they’ve attended, report by the Chief Superintendent, stakeholder report by Helen Mowat

2:11:50 Questions about additional funding from the province ($15 million + $4.2 million that must be used for the Alberta Initiative for School Improvement)

3:13:20 Discussion and debate around additional funding. Trustees unanimously approved to direct the Chief Superintendent to distribute the funding directly to schools through the Resource Allocation Method, allowing principals to decide how to spend the funds

3:34:38 Annual monitoring of EL-7: Treatment of Staff and Volunteers. Trustees unanimously find the Chief Superintendent to be in compliance.

Not recorded:
Motion to find the Chief Superintendent in compliance with EL-16 with the exceptions of policy sub-parts 1 and 6. In favour; Trustees Ferguson, Cochrane and Lane. Opposed; Trustees Bowen-Eyre, King, Taylor and Bazinet. Motion fails.

CAPSC funding request. Trustee Taylor pulled this from the consent agenda since no policy exists as to funding of non-CBE organizations. Trustees unanimously approve the funding request citing that CAPSC is the official stakeholder voice of Calgary parents.

The Chief Superintendent’s Update was pulled from the consent agenda and questions were asked about the response provided to Trustee Taylor’s inquiry about the difference between third quarter projected surplus/deficits (which are used to determine the next year’s budget) and the actual final audited surplus/deficits. The graph provided contrasted the projections vs. actuals after reserve transfers had taken place because Trustee Taylor had asked for the net surplus/deficit. However, the data prior to transfers was also provided. The wide variances in projected vs. actual surplus/deficits were explained by administration as being due to exceptional circumstances in the fourth quarter that have taken place every year. Administration will continually strive to improve their forecasting accuracy.

The Capital Budget and Reserves Status Report was pulled from the consent agenda and questions were asked as to why the Lord Shaughnessy Career Technology Centre was listed as being funded by the Alberta Government. Trustees recalled approving those funds out of CBE capital dollars. Administration assured them that the project was funded by Alberta Infrastructure.

Due to some confusion as to who in the Calgary Board of Education is able to grant authorization to allow us to plug into the sound board, we were not able to plug into the sound system again, but most of the microphones were not too bad. We hope to have this rectified by the next board meeting.

11:55 Approval of agenda, presentation by Capitol Hill School on citizenship

33:39 Trustee and Chief Superintendent reports

52:20 Approval to carry-forward unspent 2010-2011 school-based funds of $5.5 million and $2.7 million of unspent service units funds to 2011-2012. Unanimously approved.

1:11:16 Annual monitoring of EL-4: Treatment of parents and citizens. Amended by Trustee Bowen-Eyre to exclude policy provision 1 because only 67% of parents were “satisfied with parental involvement with decisions about their child’s education.” Amended motion approved unanimously.

The sound at the beginning is barely audible, but gets better after a few minutes. Unfortunately, the CBE refused to allow us to plug into their audio soundboard despite having six empty slots. We formally sent a request in to the CBE to allow us this privilege before the meeting, but we have not yet heard back from them. We have been assured that it will be discussed before the next board meeting and we hope to have better sound next time.

00:00 Welcome, singing of O Canada, introductions, approval of the agenda, report from trustees and the Chief Superintendent
06:50 Stakeholder report regarding public vs. private meetings of the board, by Larry Leach on behalf of ARTICS
13:30 CBE nominating themselves for an ASBA award for public engagement, unanimously approved
18:55 Executive Limitation 2: Succession planning found to be in compliance unanimously
26:12 Trustee Taylor’s notice of motion to end the sale of junk food in schools
27:45 Meeting adjourned
28:20 Video pan of the room, so you can see the new meeting room

0:00 Welcome and approval of agenda
2:15 Presentation of Lighthouse Award to Metis Calgary Family Services Society
11:46 Thank you to board page, trustee reports and report from the Chief Superintendent
24:32 Answers to outstanding public questions. #1. The trustees approved a motion on May 24 to decline the release of the legal opinion regarding trustee conflict of interest. Trustees Bazinet and Taylor were the only ones to oppose this motion. This question was asked on May 17 and there were public board meetings on June 7 and 14, but the question wasn’t answered until this meeting. #2. A general breakdown of the board of trustee’s budget was provided. A more detailed one can be found on page 4-4-10 from a budget document that was given to ARTICS on June 27. #3. General categories of non-school based positions paid over $100,000 were provided, but not the number of people in those positions. Also, the first sentence of the question stating that in Ontario, all school boards must disclose salaries of over $100,000 was removed and is not on the public record.
28:47 Public question asking whether the board has received any indication from Education Minister Hancock as to when an amendment to the School Act might be introduced in the legislature to address trustee conflict of interest. Answer was that the board of trustees has not received any indication from the Minister with respect to an amendment.
29:28 Stakeholder report by Eryn Kelly, CAPSC co-chair about CAPSC initiatives over the past year.
33:24 Trustee inquiry from Trustee King regarding the costs and effectiveness of ends reporting answered.
43:26 Trustee inquiry from Trustee Taylor regarding third quarter forecast operating surpluses/deficits vs. final audited actual surplus/deficit for the past ten years was not answered.
44:06 2011-12 Operating budget introductory remarks by Chief Johnson
55:02 Item 2: Noon hour supervision program
1:01:15 Items 1, 3, 4, 5, 6: School and transportation fees, other fees and non-fee based components
1:09:40 Item 7: Operating reserves
1:34:09 Item 8: Preliminary operating budget questions
1:44:56 Trustee Bazinet moves to limit administration expenses to a 3% increase (rather than the 9% budgeted) and to distribute the resulting$2.3 million dollars from administration to schools.
2:10:50 Debate on Trustee Bazinet’s motion. In favour Trustees Bazinet and Taylor. Opposed Trustees Lane, Cochrane, King, Ferguson and Bowen-Eyre.
2:23:23 Trustee Taylor moves to limit the Board of Trustees budget increase to 0% (rather than the 2.7% budgeted) and to distribute the resulting $47,000 to schools.
2:35:00 Debate on Trustee Taylor’s motion. In favour Trustees Bazinet and Taylor. Opposed Trustees Lane, Cochrane, King, Ferguson and Bowen-Eyre.
2:46:08 Debate to approve the operating budget. In favour Trustees Bowen-Eyre, Ferguson, King, Cochrane and Lane. Opposed Trustees Taylor and Bazinet.
3:10:37 Monitoring of Ends 5: Character
4:16:00 Monitoring of Ends 1: Mega-End (High School Completion)
4:50:15 Governance Committee Report

This board meeting included the presentation of the proposed operating budget for 2011-2012. The subject of each trustee’s questions are provided below.

0:00:00 Welcome, singing of O Canada, introductions, and approval of the agenda
0:03:55 Global learning strategies presentation. 28 students attended a global summit in Macau and China.
0:06:55 1-minute talks by students about their learning at the global summit
0:21:10 CBE Lighthouse award to TD Friends of the Environment
0:27:50 Trustee reports of events they’ve attended
* No stakeholder reports or new public questions. ARTICS questions from the last meeting regarding the trustee’s budget and a request for a list of non-school based positions that have salaries over $100,000 were not answered. ARTICS question from the May 17 board meeting about why the 13-page legal opinion on pecuniary interest has not been publicly released was also not answered again. *
0:35:25 Trustee inquiries – Trustee King: Cost of “ends reporting” by teachers on report cards (response next public meeting)
0:36:35 Presentation of the preliminary operating budget, remarks by Chief Superintendent Naomi Johnson
0:49:10 Director Wayne Braun, finance, provides an overview of the budget
0:59:25 Review of fees, to be received for information. Trustees Bowen-Eyre, Bazinet and Taylor declare pecuniary interest and leave the room.
1:04:00 Pam King – Instructional supplies and materials fee
1:07:00 George Lane – Jr. High incidental activity fee
1:08:00 Lynn Ferguson – Transportation fee wording
1:10:00 All trustees return. Questions related to revenues
1:11:00 Carol Bazinet – Did the province cover the increase to teachers
1:15:00 George Lane – Effect of enrolment on funding
1:18:00 Sheila Taylor – What are items that CBE funds, that are not funded from the province
1:22:00 Sheila Taylor – Class size and special needs funding
1:25:00 Joy Bowen-Eyre – “Clarification of minor enhanced support”
1:28:00 George Lane – Increase in trustee budget and administration budget
1:30:00 Carol Bazinet – What changes were made to the “service delivery model” to save money
1:35:00 Joy Bowen-Eyre – Effect of AISI funding cut
1:36:30 Sheila Taylor – Expectations of cash flows related to CBE surplus properties
1:42:00 Pat Cochrane – Increased class size in grades K-3 next year
1:44:00 Pat Cochrane – Profile review for funding for severely disabled students
1:45:00 Carol Bazinet – Assumptions used in calculating the next two years shortfalls
1:48:00 Carol Bazinet – What steps are being taken to address future shortfalls?
1:52:00 Lynn Ferguson – How does the budget align with the interim three-year education plan
1:58:00 Pat Cochrane – Any news on additional funding from the province to offset fuel costs?
1:59:00 Pat Cochrane – 8 school boards that are being given additional funding
2:00:30 Sheila Taylor – What feedback did administration get from stakeholders and how was it incorporated in the budget?
2:04:00 Sheila Taylor – What feedback was received from unions and associations?
2:06:00 George Lane – Effect of the lowering of the property tax mill rate on education funding
2:08:40 Carol Bazinet – Clarification of page 6-23, Other Revenue
2:10:00 Carol Bazinet – ATRF amount now flows through our budget, where did it fit in last years’ budget?
2:15:30 Sheila Taylor – What is the cost of providing alternative programs?
2:19:15 Pam King – How does AISI impact students in the classroom?
2:20:40 Joy Bowen-Eyre – How does this budget impact the “transformation of education”?
2:22:00 Carol Bazinet – What is the total teacher salary grid increase? What else is in the $41 million total increase?
2:24:15 Carol Bazinet – On page 6-7, what is the “expected available reserves”?
2:27:30 Carol Bazinet – What happens if reserves are different from expected?
2:30:00 Sheila Taylor – How have our actual 2010-2011 expenditures compared to the 2010-2011 budget?
2:32:40 Sheila Taylor – Financial health indicators and conflicting messages from the provincial government
2:37:00 Pam King – Clarification on loss of leasing revenues over the next 2-4 years
2:38:15 Carol Bazinet – Administration increase of $3.5 million or 9%? Can we see the breakdown of staff reductions in administration?
2:47:30 Pat Cochrane – How much work would it be to break out staff reductions in administration?
2:50:30 Chair Cochrane calls for a vote on whether or not trustees will direct administration to provide the information requested above by June 28th. Trustees Taylor and Bazinet in favour. Trustees Lane, Cochrane, King, Ferguson and Bowen-Eyre opposed.
2:51:50 Sheila Taylor – Clarify the total cost for the new Education Centre and Carl Safran and how much is part of administration?
2:57:40 Sheila Taylor – Page 6-30 claims AISI in area offices is reduced by less than AISI is reduced in total
3:00:00 Carol Bazinet – How did Chinook Learning Services account for an increase of $2 million
3:01:50 Sheila Taylor – What is the cost to support neighbourhood schools
3:03:30 Motion to accept preliminary budget for information, unanimous in favour
3:05:25 Chief Superintendent Johnson presents EL-1, general executive constraint, monitoring report
3:08:33 Trustees pose a number of questions regarding the report
3:20:05 Trustee King moves to find the Chief Superintendent to be in compliance. Trustees Bowen-Eyre, King, Ferguson, Cochrane, Lane and Bazinet in favour, Trustee Taylor opposed.
3:22:50 Meeting adjourned

0:00 Welcome, singing of O Canada, introductions, and approval of the agenda
3:05 Report from trustees about events they’ve attended
6:05 Report from the Chief Superintendent
11:50 Public question period. Answer to one of the two questions asked at the last board meeting. The question posed by ARTICS chair, Larry Leach at the last board meeting about why the 13-page legal opinion regarding pecuniary interest has not been released by trustees was not answered.
14:25 New public questions on trustee expenses and a list of non-school based positions with a salary of over $100,000. The CBE said that a response will be provided in writing as soon as possible after the meeting and read into the minutes of a future board meeting.
15:50 Establishment of planning committee. Trustees unanimously voted to change their weekly informal planning sessions to formal committee meetings.
26:20 Presentation on Knowledge and Employability (K&E) courses.
1:00:25 Questions about the presentation
1:29:15 Questions on 2011/2012 Transportation Fees for Kindergarten, Junior High, High School, Special Needs and Family Maximum (Note: the first 15 minutes of the question period were accidentally not recorded)
1:59:00 High school transportation fees. Unanimously approved to increase from $357.50 to $392.50 per year
2:05:45 Kindergarten transportation fee to increase from $200 to $215 per year. Approved by Trustees King, Cochrane, Ferguson and Bowen-Eyre. Opposed by Trustee King.
2:10:42 Eligible special needs students (grades 10-12) transportation fee to increase from $200 to $295 per year. Unanimously approved
2:15:28 Conditional charter transportation fee amended by Trustee Bowen-Eyre to increase from $200 to $335 per year. Unanimously approved.
2:21:15 Junior high charter and transit transportation fee amended by Trustee Lane to increase from $200 to $335 per year. Trustees Lane, King and Bowen-Eyre approved. Opposed by Trustees Cochrane and Ferguson.
2:48:24 Family maximum. Trustees decided to deal with elementary before returning to the family maximum.
2:58:48 Elementary transportation fees to increase from $200 to $295 per year. Unanimously approved.
3:02:05 Family maximum amended by Trustee Ferguson to be removed altogether. Approved by Trustees Lane, King, Ferguson and Bowen-Eyre. Opposed by Chair Cochrane.

Below is the video of the May 17 board meeting. The meeting was called to order outside the boardroom as the singing of “O Canada” was done to the accompaniment of a handbell choir. I’m sorry that I do not remember the name of the performing school, because it was wonderful. This video begins afterwards when the meeting resumed in the boardroom. Again, if you experience any difficulties with the video, please refresh and try again where you left off.

0:00 Introductions, approval of the agenda, trustee reports of events they’ve attended and the Chief Superintendent report
11:33 Public question period
12:30 Answer to question regarding administration and other central services expenses (we have posted this answer online)
19:00 Answer regarding the accountability framework and best practices as they pertain to the CBE
28:48 Reading of questions regarding the CBE using taxis rather than buses and when the 13-page legal document will be released. Answers will be provided in writing as soon as possible after the meeting and will be read into the minutes at a future meeting.
30:17 Chair Cochrane reminds trustees that according to board procedures that any public question that they feel uses too much time or resources to answer can be refused by majority vote of the trustees
31:21 Stakeholder report by Helen Mowat
34:56 Trustee inquiry by Trustee Bowen-Eyre regarding why there was no public consultation regarding the new second-language changes
40:50 Introductory comments by Chief Superintendent for the capital budget and transportation fees regarding the new budget process in order to maximize trustee participation. Administration presented new information regarding pecuniary interest from internal and external legal counsel with individual trustee circumstances in mind.
45:15 Questions and debate regarding the preliminary capital budget. Unanimously approved.
1:15:10 Declaration of pecuniary interest for the transportation fees
1:17:16 Introduction to new process being used for the transportation fees by Chair Cochrane. Clarification on why the report was pulled two weeks ago.
1:19:03 Introduction of the transportation fee report
1:20:45 Transportation fee part 1: Senior high school fee schedule
1:37:08 Trustee King doesn’t feel that it is possible to ask all question necessary to make a decision on a single part, without having asked questions relating to other parts. Trustee Bazinet then declares a pecuniary interest because she believes that all transportation fees are interrelated. Trustee Taylor also declares a pecuniary interest because she didn’t feel that she could ask all the questions needed in order to make a decision as they would relate to other parts.
1:40:37 Debate on part 1 continues. Trustees Bowen-Eyre, Ferguson, Cochrane and Lane vote in favour. Trustee King opposed.
1:42:19 Transportation fee part 2: Kindergarten charter fee schedule. Unanimously opposed.
2:19:05 Transportation fee part 3: Elementary charter fee schedule. Trustee Lane in favour. Trustees Ferguson, King and Cochrane opposed.
2:34:30 Transportation fee parts 4-8 were then combined. Unanimously opposed.
2:47:28 Motion arising to refer the report back to administration for them to come back with alternative scenarios and report back to the board at the next public board meeting excluding senior high fees which were already approved.
2:52:43 Trustees King and Bowen-Eyre are not in support of excluding senior high fees. This led to tabling the previous motion indefinitely, rescinding the approval of the high school fee schedule, and bringing forward a new motion for the administration to present new scenarios including the high school fee schedule.
3:03:40 Annual monitoring of EL-8: Staff Evaluation. Unanimously opposed.
3:22:38 Trustee remuneration introductory remarks by Trustee Lane.
3:27:48 Motion to receive the remuneration committee minutes for information was amended to exclude the May 13 minutes. Unanimously approved.
3:35:58 GP-12: Provision for governance, which is the policy on which the remuneration recommendations are based. Approved by Trustee Lane. Opposed by Trustees Bazinet, Taylor, Cochrane, King, Ferguson and Bowen-Eyre.
4:09:10 GP-12E: Exhibit detailing trustee remuneration, amended to remove the $50/month for a cell phone and changing “provided reserved underground parking” to “entitled to reserved or scramble underground parking.” Unanimously approved.
4:35:35 Approval of April 19 minutes. Unanimously approved.